A day in Kabul; Police remain a target in Southeast

Kabul, Afghanistan: The city of Kabul remains quiet as evidence emerges that U.S. Army troops fired on demonstrators while leaving the scene of Monday’s accident. According to General Amanullah Gozar, Kabul’s chief of highway police who was present at the accident, the U.S. convoy started to leave the accident site after the Afghan mob turned violent. Soldiers in one or more lead vehicles fired warning shots into the air, but a soldier in the trailing vehicle apparently fired into the crowd after hearing gunshots from the crowd. General Gozar confirmed the traffic accident was indeed unintentional, and the U.S. troops immediately began to administer medical assistance to those injured. President Hamid Karzai was critical of the soldier’s use of weapons, and the Afghan Parliament called for punishment of the American soldiers.

The latest news did not incite further protests or violence. Traffic was heavy on the streets today, and shops and street vendors remained in business. The evening air was filled with sounds of music emanating from several parties. The residents of Kabul left the evening festivities early to beat the 10:00pm nightime curfew, which has been extended indefinitely. The government has asked religious leaders to moderate the tone of the Friday sermons. There are indications demonstration may be held on Friday, and police, military and security companies are preparing for the possibility.

With the specter of Monday’s accident and subsequent riots hanging over the city, an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) vehicle struck an Afghan child in Kabul. The child was quickly rushed to the hospital. There have been no repercussions from the ISAF accident.

It should be understood that Kabul possesses four traffic lights, which are infrequently turned on. Describing Afghani drivers as aggressive is an understatement. Driving in the city is chaotic experience; the traffic in New York or Boston look like tame by comparison. It is in this environment, coupled with the threat and fear of suicide bombers, that Coalition forces and security contractors operate. Military units will very likely change the rules for convoys, but authority exists to check the driving habits of the security companies.

In southeastern Afghanistan, the police continue to be the main target of the Taliban, as their training and equipment is lacking compared to that of the Afghan Army and Coalition forces. On Tuesday, a police station was overrun by Taliban forces in the town of Chora in Uruzgan province. Ten policemen have been reported killed and forty are thought to have been captured. The Afghan government has acknowledged the Taliban has gained control of the town and is planning an operation to retake it. Taliban forces also attacked a police convoy in Zabul, killing a senior police official, and two provincial leaders.

The assaults on the Afghan police has not stopped the Afghan people from cooperating with the Afghan government and Coalition forces. Afghans in Kandahar province confronted insurgents staging rockets at Kandahar Airfield, and notified the police. Coalition forces also discovered a large weapons cache in the province. In Paktika province, an Afghan turned in two insurgents accessing their weapons cache to the police. Also in Paktika, two bomb-makers were arrested by soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Tags: Afghanistan